Two smaller cloud computing rivals, CoreWeave and Nebius, are growing far faster than Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, but neither is yet profitable—raising the question of whether they can sustain their momentum.

What happened: CoreWeave and Nebius, specialized cloud providers focused on AI, posted explosive growth in Q1—CoreWeave's revenue grew 112% year over year, while Nebius soared 684%. Wall Street projects CoreWeave will grow 147% in 2026 and 97% in 2027, with Nebius expected to grow around 551% in 2026 and 224% in 2027. Meanwhile, the three established players—AWS (28% growth), Microsoft Azure (40% growth), and Google Cloud (63% growth)—are still expanding, but at much slower rates.

Why it matters: Cloud computing has proven to be a standalone profitable business for the three giants; AWS alone accounted for 59% of Amazon's operating income in Q1. CoreWeave and Nebius attract the same major customers—Microsoft and Meta Platforms among them—who value the ability to rapidly obtain additional computing power without building their own data centers. The question is whether the two newcomers can eventually reach profitability, since they are currently spending all available capital on expansion rather than turning a profit.

What to watch: Neither CoreWeave nor Nebius is expected to become profitable soon, which is a central investment risk. Success depends on whether they can sustain their rapid growth rates and eventually achieve profitability—if they do, they could offer significantly greater long-term returns than the established cloud giants.